Let It Rain
by manycoloredeyes
Summary: After she was resurrected at the Cathedral, Akatsuki sees herself as a failure. She seeks refuge in the library when Shiroe enters.


_**A/N:** I'm on a roll today! Two one-shots in a day? Wow! Don't expect any of this level of productivity anymore though._

_So anyway, this is actually inspired by something I read somewhere. Apparently in the novel, Akatsuki died and was resurrected at the Cathedral. So that inspired me to write this one. Hope you guys like it._

_**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Mamare-sensei is the man!_

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**Let It Rain**

**(Shiroe X Akatsuki)**

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Unable to sleep, Akatsuki decided to take a walk. There were still a few hours before dawn and the guild building was quiet. She was used to it but tonight, the silence gave her an eery feeling. She walked and walked down the quiet hallways and ended up at the library, where Shiroe would usually use as his office.

Akatsuki opened the door slowly and after confirming it was empty, walked into the room and closed the door. As an Assassin and a Tracker as her subclass, her eyes got used to the darkness pretty quick.

She walked towards the window, a thin white cloth hung in front of it as a makeshift curtain. She pulled the cloth aside and looked at the view that stretched in front of her. She had seen how Akiba looks like at night many times before but tonight, a heavy feeling loomed over it.

Or maybe it was just her.

Dropping the cloth, she sat below the window and leaned on the wall, pulling her knees close to her body.

It was her first time being resurrected at the Cathedral. Her first death. Before this, it didn't really bother her much but after knowing that she might lose a memory from the real world, death scared her.

For the entire day after she was resurrected, she tried to remember her life back in the real world. Turning it over and over again, trying to figure out if she had forgotten anything but her efforts were futile. Nothing seemed to be out of place.

But that wasn't the only thing that scared her.

The fact that she had actually died, meant that she was incompetent. She was weak. A mediocre Assassin. Her arms wrapped around her knees tightly and she leaned her forehead on her knees.

All this while, she had just wanted to be recognized by her own ability. In the real world, she had managed to be one of the top scorers in school and entered a prestigious college. But even with these accomplishments, everyone still looked at her as someone who looked like a little girl. A loli.

This frustrated her to no end and when she first heard of Elder Tales, she decided that it might be a good way to prove herself. So she created a male avatar and started to build a reputation as a solo player.

But even that, turned out to be fruitless at the end.

Unable to control her feelings, tears began to fall from her eyes. She wept; her first time since the Apocalypse Her first time in a long time to be exact.

"Akatsuki?"

Surprised, she choked on her tears. The library door was now opened and an orange glow radiated from it. The glow came from the candle in Shiroe's hand, the other was still on the door knob.

Akatsuki quickly wiped her tears and looked away, ashamed that not only she could not detect Shiroe's presence beforehand, but also that he was witnessing her emotional breakdown.

"My..my lord," her voice wavered.

"Are you...crying?"

Shiroe closed the door behind him and cautiously walked towards her. Alarmed, she scrambled to her feet but she fell back on the ground instead. Worried, Shiroe placed the candle on the table and rushed to her side when she held her hands in front of her.

"Don't! Don't come any closer!"

She looked down, using her long hair as a shield so Shiroe would not see her tears coming back.

"You don't have to concern yourself about me," her voice came out weak and pathetic to her ears.

"Akatsuki," Shiroe began and wrapped his own hand around hers. He sat down on the floor, her hands in his, and he gave it a gentle squeeze.

"You are a member of my guild. Of course it concerns me."

The both of them were silent except for Akatsuki's occasional sobbing. Shiroe sat down with her patiently, his thumb gently ran over her hands unconsciously. He had never seen this side of Akatsuki before. She was always so serious and fierce and seeing her so vulnerable like this breaks his heart.

He was there in the Cathedral when she resurrected. He could never erase the look he saw in her eyes. Fear. Despite acting tough and normal after that, he knew that she was just acting it out so the other members wouldn't worry about her.

But he was.

And that made him lose his sleep. The logical part of his mind argued that he would regret not sleeping but he damned it all. One of his most trusted member, one who he considered as his right hand, was afraid. If he couldn't help her, what use is he as a guild leader?

After a few hours arguing with himself in bed, Shiroe finally decided to start on his paperwork early to take his mind off this troubling matter. Little did he know that he was about to stumble upon her, crying, in the library.

He saw her the minute the light from the candle illuminated the room. The sound of weeping filled his ears and his heart broke further. That was when he called out to her.

"...failure…"

"What's that?"

Shiroe turned his attention to the present and the girl in front of him.

"I'm a failure…"

She said quietly and her dropped in shame. Shiroe was about to comfort her when she looked up at him, tears still streaming down her face, her hair in disarray.

"I am weak! I don't have the strength nor the ability to help you, even when I have sworn that I will! I am still a middle-class Assassin! I lost! I-"

Unable to bear it anymore, Shiroe pulled her into a tight embrace. He buried his face on the top of her head.

"You are not a failure," he said. It had never crossed his mind that someone as strong as her could think of herself that way. It felt a bit hypocritical for him to say that but he pushed those thoughts away.

"Akatsuki, you are a beautiful woman. And brave. One of the bravest I've met," tears began to build up in his eyes.

Akatsuki, who was surprised by his embrace, slowly relaxed herself and buried her face in his shirt. She could hear his heart beating faster than normal and his scent calmed her.

"You have helped me more than you can ever imagine," Shiroe confessed. He had already made up his mind to not walk down this path but it seemed that whether he liked it or not, he could not escape from it.

"What do you mean?" Akatsuki peeled her face off his chest and tried to look at him. "How did I help you?"

Shiroe looked at her, drinking in her features and once again, struck by her beauty. He brought one of his hands to her cheek and gently wiped away the excess tears.

"When I felt stressed or doubt myself, you were always by my side. And your presence alone, gave me strength. There were many times where I wanted to throw the towel but you always seem to know when to come to cheer me up."

"I...I did?"

Akatsuki never thought of her sitting in the room quietly as a good thing. Yes, there were times when she sincerely wanted to cheer him up but the moment she was with him, all courage fled and she was left mumbling some incoherent words and sat in the corner of the room, observing him work.

"Yes. So please, never doubt yourself again, Akatsuki," Shiroe's voice was soft and gentle now, like a whisper. He lowered his head so his forehead touched hers, his hand still cradling her face.

A fresh wave of tears poured out of her as she lifted her hand to touch his cheek. This time it was tears of joy and relief. That her master never thought less of her. And that she was actually of use to him.

"I won't," she promised and they held each other until dawn came.

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_**A/N:** Reviews are **love**! And it also tells me that I am not alone in shipping them._


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